In Which Shepard Fails to Notice the Obvious
by The Original Quirk
Summary: Reese Shepard is feeling despondent over the millions of lives lost due to the destruction of a Mass Relay  Arrival . Suprisingly  or maybe not so  Jack cheers him up. Warning: might cause cavities due to fluff


In Which, Shepard Fails to Notice the Obvious

Ummm... Hi. I'm new at this shindig... My roommate KitsuneButterfly inspired me to try a bit of writing, and since my bitch of a muse won't cooperate on the visual art scale, I'd thought I'd give it a try. Needless to say, I had fun writing this. Constructive criticism and reviews appreciated.

Welp, I might as well admit to not owning Bioware or any of their characters... I'm just having funsies with the Mass Effect world.

Reese Shepard: Vanguard, Earthborn, War hero. LI: Jack

M for their (and mine apparently) potty mouths

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><p>Reese Shepard despondently made his habitual way down to the bowels of the Sr2 Normandy. His normally ramrod straight stature was hunched, radiating depression. Even worse, he descended without his usual bowl of steaming hot, homemade ramen. The storage cargo for the engine room was darker than usual with the broken lights, loose cables, toppled crates, and other sorts of debris. Traveling through the Omega-Relay had left its mark on the ship, and without the Illusive Man's financial support, repairs were taking longer than usual.<p>

Shepard was trying to be quiet as he tried to navigate through the entangled mess. He was feeling pretty good about his success until he tripped over an unseen pair of discarded pants and landed on his face. Rather hard.

"MAKER'SSAGGYLEFTBALLSDAMNMONKEY'SSUCKINGMOTHERF-

"What the fuck? ...Shepard?"

Jack-who was sleeping soundly on her cot-sat up abruptly, biotic powers flaring in her right hand while she rubbed one eye blearily with the palm of her other hand. She relaxed and her biotics blinked out as she recognized that it was Reese's clumsiness that woke her and not an enemy's attack. Commander Shepard continued to lay there for a minute in abject humiliation as Jack scowled at him. He groaned again, got up, and stumbled over to Jacks cot and collapsed on the foot end. Leaning back against the wall holding his nose gingerly with one hand, Reese was still grousing about his nose while Jack glared. She then sighed and then went back to rubbing her eyes, muttering curses and grumbling.

"Jaaaaccckk... My damned nose is broken," Shepard whined.

"Aahh you're a pussy. Com'ere, dumb ass and le'me see," grumbled Jack.

Reese leaned over obligingly as Jack slithered out of her thermal blanket. She took his face in her hands and studied his nose for a minute. Then she touched it.

"Yeaoouuch!"

"Shut up! Ya not bleeding Reese, and I don't feel any bumps. I'd say it's not broken, though you're gonna to have one helluva shiner tomorrow. Ask, the doc to just to make sure," Jack said grouchily, after Shepard's cry of pain.

"... Sorry I woke you ... didn't mean too," he said apologetically after a moment of silence.

"Fuck it. I wasn't sleeping good anyways," Jack lied.

She neglected to take her hands off of Shepard's face. Chocolate brown eyes and lilac blue peered studiously back at each other. Jack's perpetually angry persona softened as the concern in her eyes spread to the rest of her face. She broke the stare contest and kissed Shepard, sliding her arms around his neck, pulling him close as possible. His painful nose forgotten, he moaned and responded eagerly. Too soon, Reese broke the kiss and pulled Jack close to his side. She leaned against Reese's shoulder until he put an arm around her waist. The convict cuddled into the commander's side. Shepard thought that there was something amiss about Jack's apparel, but was diverted from that train of thought when the object of his affection spoke.

"You can't get me off like that, and then stop," Jack complained.

"Hey, you kissed me. Now, I don't dare stand up. I'll trip and break the one thing you find useful about me."

Jack laughed, only to stop abruptly when Reese started trailing kisses from her shoulder up to behind her ear.

After a particularly hair raising kiss behind Jack's ear, Reese asked, "How'd you get through this stuff without falling?"

"Either shut up and continue what you are doing or talk. And I didn't. Fell a few times ''til I remembered that ninja trick Goto showed me. Say ... don't tell me Kasumi finally stole a bowl of your ramen. You know she's going to figure out the damn secret recipe you're so proud of an' then ya won't have the braggin rights of bein the only one who knows how to make it. Or, did you spill it when you fell on your fuckin face?" Jack questioned.

" She didn't, and I didn't spill it! I'd never spill something that vital. I just didn't make any today. Didn't feel like it," Shepard responded indignantly.

Jack's eyes widened. She turned to look at Reese in shock. He never came down without his secret recipe ramen. He'd make a huge bowls of it and would eat it whenever he had a chance. It was Kasumi's mission in life to steal a sample and learn the recipe since she claimed it was better than her grandmother's. So far the thief hasn't succeeded.

"A'ight. What's wrong?" Jack demanded.

"Nothin-"

"Bullshit! You never come down here without a bowl after a big mission. Now. What. Is. Wrong?"

" Well. You know that mission I just came back from? The one with Hackett's MIA scientist friend?" Jack nodded. She knew that Reese had just returned from that particular mission. She had hung around outside the medical clinic until she heard Chakwas okayed his claims of non injury. She left to catch some sleep, missing Colonel Hackett's entrance into the ship, let alone the debrief.

"Yeah, so?"

Reese went on to explain the destruction of a mass relay, the death of millions, and the general failure of the mission. He started ranting.

"Millions dead! And there was nothin' I could do! That damned bitch interrupted my call before I could get the warning out. And... those people, dead! Why the hell I keep getting thrown into these situations when I cant do a damned thing to save anyone- "

Jack punched him. In the ribs. Those broken bones were barely healed from the Omega Relay jump. Shepard hissed with pain. She then quickly straddled his body, sticking her face directly into his. Shepard was distracted from his rant by the sudden pain and proximity of Jack. He blushed as his already aroused body reacted to hers. Due to the darkness of the room, and the multiple distractions Jack had just inflicted on him, Reese still couldn't figure out what was off about her body which he ignored again as the convict started speaking.

"Look at all the shit you do! You're the big goddamn hero of the Skyllian Blitz. You saved the fucking Council even though they screw you over every time. You've saved people over and over again, no matter what hell you gotta go through to do it."

She continued, " Now listen here you dumbass, you've done everything you can to save that system. It's not your fault things went to shit. Stop dwelling on it, we've got bigger problems. Don't forget the Reapers!"

Reese had looked away from Jack she had told him it wasn't his fault. Jack punched him. Again. On the arm, this time.

"Ouch! What the fuck was that fo-"

"Stop being so damn mopey and needy. God, you're a pussy! I knew it from the moment I met you. It's a good thing the others haven't noticed. They don't need to know, and we're keeping it that way. I want... I..."

She blushed faintly and looked away while Reese stared at her in surprise. Then he grinned.

"Thanks, Jack."

"Yeah. Right."

"No, really. I mean it."

Shepard, grasped Jack's chin gently with a hand, pulled her face closer to his, and kissed her fervently. Jack tried to pull away, Reese's hands on her shoulders prevented the attempt.

"I really mean it," Reese gasped, "I know you wouldn't give me anything less than the blunt truth. One of the many things I love about you." His calloused fingers slowly trailed down from Jack's shoulders to rest at her waist. Reese's gentle caresses raised chills from Jack's art-stained skin.

You are right about- Wait ... you're not wearing any pants..."

"No shit, Sherlock. Took you long enough."

"I, Iiii ... didn't realize because I'm so used to your straps-

"Shut up Shep, you need a pity fuck. I'm awake an' horny. Win, win."

"Can't argue with that logic."

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><p>Fin<p>

*Personal comment: Yes, Reese is denser than a brick for not noticing that Jack was naked the whole time.


End file.
